PUBLIC OPINION

[DUSTYRUN]

NOT TO MAKE A LONG STORY BUT HERE GOES. I have an account for the internet with a good provider {so i thought}. I was scanning the internet for free internet hookups and found one that offers everything for free. As i looked futher I noticed that the number that I dail for my provider, that costs me 19.95, is the same number for the free service. My questions are:
1: Is this right?
2: is this legel?
3: can anything be done?

I called my service provider and could only talk to a sales rep. He said he could not answer my question.

OPINIONS ANYBODY AND EVERYBODY.

Thanks Ed_S
Some of my questions have been answered. by the way, i'm on earthlink and the other site I was talking about was freewwweb. But i'm of the opinion that you cann't get an answer if you don't ask a question. Thanks everybody for helpin' me out.

well guys
experience talks. i've only been on the net for about 8 months and i'll admit that when ever i think i know something, well something new comes up. i feel a little better now that i have gained some opinions othe rthen mine. once again THANKS

DUSTYRUN

[This message has been edited by DUSTYRUN (edited 11-26-1999).]

[This message has been edited by DUSTYRUN (edited 11-26-1999).]

[dexmax]

Do you know the instructions on how to apply to a free account. If you do, do apply for the free acct. but don't cut your subscription, you may need it for faster and more reliable access.

I don't know if its legal or not, but I think a company can do promotions to attract costumers, w/o the former/regular subscribers knowing about it.

[Ed_S]

More than one ISP can have the same phone number for access. That's what the network DNS settings are for. I use Freewwweb, and have been told that many of their #s are the same as MSN, but they are not even affiliated with Microsoft, or at least not that I've seen over the 3 yrs I've used them!

[codybear]

i've been with MSN for 3 trouble free years now and when the freebies came out I gave them a shot....freewwweb (I'm going with them all the way now)has the same # so does netzero and freeaccess....anyway I still have the same name and same number only diff is a different login......I have to transfer all my email to the new one as well of many other things that accumalate over three yrs with the same isp...dont let the number thing bother you if they provide the service and speed they say they will...I'm sold...

[Comtech]

Free ISPs don't actually run an ISP with a server etc. All they do is purchase accounts with a real ISP, hence the same phone #. Then they get the accounts paid for by having advertising (usually) cover the cost.
Completely legal.

[Axel]

To answer one of the original questions - unless you sign up with AT&T internet, or with GTE internet, your ISP doesn't operate the telephone number you are dialing into for access.

Given server and telephone switching technology, it is technically feasible for ALL ISP's to have a single dial-up number - and you simply log in to a front end authentication server which then routes your call to a particular service provider's content servers on the WAN. The telephone company that actually operates the number then sends a billing tape, or electronic debit to the ISP's office/systems which then calculates who has been on for how long and then that ISP does it's own billing. In some cases, the larger telephone companies also handle the billing for a fee - this is called "fulfillment" and is similar to a local baby Bell doing billing for AT&T even though the companies are legally seperate.

This is also how a lot of the independant micro-telephone companies operate. All you really need to be an ISP is a T-1 line to your house - a few content/e-mail servers - a P.O. box, and a few licenses to do business. I recommend also having some technical knowledge to handle the servers as well as a little legal knowledge to formulate a content dis-claimer.

So - to summarize - there's nothing wrong with sharing a telephone number for dial-up. I'm amazed it took this long to see such a posting.

Free internet/e-mail means you're willing to put up with no real service and reading ads each&every time you log on, and probably having them tacked on to the bottom of your E-mail as well.

I pay for Cable to avoid most of the ads - I pay for internet to avoid most of the ads. It's a choice I can afford.

[Zotzmein]

Axel,

You don't even need those things. UUNET can provide you with a full featured and transperant ISP.

They run the mail and news servers (with your domain name of course)and provide virutal hosting for your website.

UUNET can even provide you with a toll free number that will allow your customers to dialup "YOUR ISP" technical support but in reality they are UUNET employees acting as tech support in your ISP's name.

All you need do is provide the content for the website and manage your customer billing. That can be done from a single computer and standard dialup account.

Regards to All,

Zotz Mein

Yes it's that easy ladies and gentlemen!

[This message has been edited by Zotzmein (edited 11-29-1999).]